Visitors to Scout Island last week may have noticed an excavator at work on the bridge across to the small island.
“We noticed the bridge was listing so our president, Fred McMechan, brought in Celtic Engineering, who said it needed to be replaced,” says Jenny Noble, Scout Island Nature Centre co-ordinator.
“The old bridge comes out entirely, to be replaced by a new structure on concrete footings. We hoped to do the whole process in one step so the far island wouldn’t be inaccessible any longer than necessary,” Noble says in her earlier report.
But she says that with the vagaries of Cariboo weather, Celtic Engineering opted to remove the old bridge and get the concrete footings in while the digging is still easy. They estimated one day’s work to place the stringers once they’re delivered, and then the Williams Lake Field Naturalist volunteers jump in to lay the decking and build the railings.
“Obviously we’ll get it all done just as quickly as possible, but it’s hard to estimate how long the process will take,” Noble says. The bridge was back in action by the Nov. 24 weekend.